Circles of attention

Stanislavski created the theory of Circles of attention, whereby actors need to be isolated to produce characterization and avoid unnecessary tension. The actor needs to be able to concentrate on themselves. The first theory Stanisvlaski made was public solitude whereby the actor is able to be in complete isolation and are able to explore their character and have better understanding freely. The second is to be aware of the character they are addressing and the third circle is to include the rest of the production. Stanislavski believed there should b no direct awareness of the audience and it uses great focus and attention.



Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov was a Russian writer, considered a master of the modern short stories and leading playwright. He was born January the 29th 1860, in Taganrog, Russia. Pavel his father, was a grocer with frequent money problems. His mother Yevgeniyia, shared her love of storytelling with Chekhov and his 5 siblings. When Pavel's business failed in 1875 he took his family to moscow, whilst Chekhov stayed to study in Tagnrog until he finished his studies. He was able to join his family in Moscow in 1879 and enrolled at media school. His father was still struggling financially, therefore Chekhov supported the family with his freelance writing, producing hundreds of short comic pieces under a pen name for local magazines. 
During mid 1880s, Chekhov practiced as an physician, publishing serious work of fiction under his own name. He created many great works from 1890s, with short stories such as Ward no.6 and Lady with the dog. Checkhov focuses mainly on mood and characters, showing they can be more important than plots. This reflects our play The three sisters as the characters are continuously dissatisfied and complain about their current situations. When I first read the script I asked "what is the plot?" and the response I got was that it was just them wanting to return to Moscow and complaining throughout the play. Not much happens to their lonely characters, but their inner conflicts take a great significance, by this I mean within the script there are many affairs, people longing to wok etc. There is also very specific paintings of pre-revolutionary Russian society, yet timeless. *find out* In the 1890s he began collaborating with Stanisvlaski and Moscow Arts Theatre, creating work such as The Seagull (1895) and The three sisters (1901).
He married in 1901, to Olga Knipper which coincidentally is the eldest sister within the play. Unfortunately, his long term illness tuberculosis came back during his later life and Checkov died at the age of 44 on the 15th of July.


Stanislavski's System
Stanisvlaski  system is a set of techniques created in the early 1900s. Actors are able portray emotions on stage. Putting themselves in the place of the character creating more believable emotions and actions.

This can be done in 7 steps:

• Who am I?- Natasha
• Where am I?- Russia
• When is it?- 1905
• What do I want?- Objective in act 2 is to make sure the carnival people don't come, to make Bokik have his own room. Super-Objective, is to run the household and have it to my standard.
• How will I get it?- By making Irina move into Olga's room
• What do I need to overcome?- The three sisters and making them have understanding

To help us get a better understanding of our character, there are a few simple steps we can use

• Reading the script carefully to get a good understanding character motivations, needs and desires.
• Work out how the character would behave in that certain situation.
• Learn the character's  objectives, Obstacles and how far they will go to reach that objective.
• learning to break the script down into bits/ beats  so that it can determine how the character will react and so the play is not flat. It gives the character the objective which leads to the actions. It also determine characters motivation for this action.

Given Circumstances
Given circumstances is information about the character that you start with. How old they may be, what situation the actor is in, the relationship with the other characters. They may also have notes and stage directions that may not tell you everything which allows the actor to build character.
For my character Natasha, I  read through my lines to see the given circumstance, Natasha is a local from the area, around her mid twenties. She is also in a relationship with Andrey, therefore the way I direct and approach Andrey should be much different to the way I approach the other characters. This is because I have grown a connection with Andrey, I refer to him as "Andryusha" showing when you know someone so well you may call them by their actual name and not what everyone else refers to him as. I do not have a strong relationship with the three sisters therefore I portray this through my patronizing behaviour and lack of communication when it comes to the house.

Subtext
The script of the play is the text, the subtext is the actual meaning and motivation behind the lines, spoken and actions taken. By this I mean a boyfriend may say to his girlfriend 'I love you', we may think it's a happy ending, however the delivery may be different if she thought he as going walk out on her. Therefore, whilst developing my character I've gone through the script and written in my objectives and actions, to start looking at the meaning of why Natasha says specific things and how I interpret it.

Objective, Super-objective, through line
An objective is a reason for your actions. A super-objective is an over- reaching objective linked to an overall outcome of the play, the essential idea/core. The characters objectives lead to the super-objective. If the journey is perceived as a clear path to the super-objective, then you have a through line. As I'm playing the character Natasha in act 2/4. I believe her super-objective is to take over the household and control what goes on within it. This is evident in act 2 when Natasha says "She can move in with Olga", when it isn't even her house properly yet. Towards the end of act 4, Natasha has reached her super-objective as everyone is leaving she is now demanding things to be moved etc. "The first thing I'm going to do is have that row of old fir trees cut down", expressing she has finally reached her super-objective and is now leading he household.

Emotional Memory
Emotional memory is where actors find a real past experience where they felt similar emotions. The actors must borrow those feelings for the role. One exercise which is useful was in Rob's lesson, he made us sit down with our eyes closed. Rob made us think about our favourite chocolate and made us imagine, the taste and the smell. He also made us think about the emotion behind it, how excited we may be, the taste when it melted in our mouths and how are emotion was at the time. He then made us think about picking up dog poo from the floor, thinking about the smell of it, the feeling whilst we are picking it up and what sort of emotional feelings were linked with that e.g. disgust. This exercise will help me in the role of Natasha as now that I have written in my actions for the script, when she says certain things e.g. "poor little things" and my action was to patronize I can now lock into a certain emotion to show this clearer.


Magic If
Stanislavski said that all actors should answer this question, "what would I do if I was in this situation?". This means the actor must put themselves in the same situation of the character and decide how they would behave /react. This technique encourages the motivation of the actor for this role. For myself whilst playing Natasha I should think about what if I actually had a child, how would I speak about my child, "Hello my Bobbie Wobbie", dramatic and happy whilst saying these lines if this was my son. Also what would I do if I came into a house and wanting to start changing things and if I don't like any of the designs. This will help my character become natural as I am able to use some characteristics of myself to the character however I will still be completely different in other aspects within my character.


Fourth Wall
Fourth wall is an established convention, which is an invisible wall which separates the actors from the audience. The audience can clearly see the actors but the actors act as if they cannot see them. Fourth wall is modern realistic theatre, which has led some artists to draw attention to it for dramatic or comedic effect. The fourth wall is broken, when an actor or character addresses the audience directly, referring to the play as a play or the characters fictionally. The temporary suspension of the convention engages the audience's attention for the rest of the performance. In our production of the three sisters we will be using this theory as this will make our play natural and realistic,I believe breaking the fourth wall in this play will loose he realness behind it and the home setting which is being betrayed.



What Characters say about me throughout the play  
In Act1

• "Some girl"
• "A local girl"
• "See the way she dresses-my God"
• "It's not just unstylish, it's painful"
• "This strange neon skirt with a lacy fringe"
• "Andrey can't be serious not about her"
• "I heard she's marrying Protopopov"
• "Natasha, the belt-what were you thinking?"
• "Natasha already has her eyes on someone"
• Natasha's face has turned pinker than her dress"
• "They love you too..."
• "You're beautiful and sweet"
• "Marry me Natasha"
• "I love you"

Act 2

• "My wife doesn't understand me"
• "Make sure Natasha doesn't find out how much he's loosing" 
• "As if she'd care"

It is important to know what the other characters are saying about you as it allows me to know just a bit more about my own character. Masha comments a lot on my fashion, highlighting that I dress very differently to what they are custom to and therefore frown upon me. They also don't have much respect for me, they refer to Natasha as some girl and that Andrey can't be serious, showing me that whilst I'm around them the kindness I have is not genuine as I have not built a relationship with the sisters or any of the military in fact. Seeing what other characters think of me allows me to determine how I will act with them and speak.




Themes

Dissatisfaction
This play shows that in life you can't always get what you want, the three sisters desperately wish to return to Moscow however must wait a few months until they can do so. Irina wants to fall in love but is not able to. Vershinin states in the play "we're never happy. We can never be happy. We only want to be happy". This reflects all the characters, they all long for something in their life, so simple that Tuzenbach just wants to work but cannot reach it. They are all so unhappy with themselves that they spend most the play only complaining. Olga the eldest sister 28, is a school teacher who hates her job and is continuously tired and feels she is aging. Olga is longing for a marriage however that dream is slowly fading in her eyes. Tuzenbach feels "my life's a drag" , highlighting the constant complaining and lack of appreciation for the things they have.Vershinin also states "All we can do is work, suffer and go on working", conveying that is the only thing their life consists of and are longing for more. Natasha who I am playing is dissatisfied with her relationship with Andrey, she is constantly complaining about the house and how it is not suited to her. To highlight my dissatisfaction I will use my subtext and inner monologue, for example in Act 2 when I ask Andrey if he's "reading?", before I didn't respond with any facial expressions, but now to show that I'm not interested in his books I just roll my eyes. My vocal projection is clear and my tone of voice when speaking is good however, I will now look more closely into my subtext when people are talking to me as I feel I am better than them.

Alienation/Loneliness  
Although the three sisters have been living in Moscow for the past ten years including a house full of visitors, the still feel lonely within the town.  The family are more educated than the people around them, which isolates them intellectually. Vershinin doubts there could be a town "so boring and dismal that it doesn't need intelligent cultivated people ", by this it is clear they do not share the same optimistic views and ability to look to the future. Most of their friends are within the military, therefore they are socially excluded from certain conversations, the military are much older than the sisters therefore, so they may not be able to relate to them age wise. Andrey in particular is quite isolated majority of the time he plays his violin or is reading books, for Irina's birthday he only turned up for a small amount of time and crept off when he had the chance. He feels that no one "my wife doesn't understand me and I'm scared to tell my sisters", showing mentally he feels he does not fit into society. As Natasha I feel she is isolated as she is referred to as "some girl" "Local girl", the family do not accept her bold and diva like ways. Natasha is also isolated in terms of fashion wearing a "Green belt" her clothing can represent she is bold and confident although the sisters do not agree with it at all but refer to it as "painful". Whilst playing Natasha it is evident I do not have the same upbringing as the sisters, therefore I need to make sure I show this during Act 3 when Natasha is shouting at Anfisa. As I scream "Get out, get out of here!" it is evident that I do not respect those around me which is not how the sisters would act. It is also clear I do not fit in when I ask "Why do they always laugh at me?", expressing they make fun of me and mock me.

Relationships
It is clear that there are many relationships in the play however, there is also many affairs and lust for others. This is evident as Olga is longing for marriage which she has not achieved yet, Masha is married to Kuligan a teacher, however Kuligan says "If it wasn't for Masha I would've married you, you're so good Olga" which showed the slight lust that he has for her. Whilst his wife Masha, created a relationship with Vershinin as he says "I love you. I love you" however knows things would soon become complicated and Kuligan continued to convince himself everything would be fine. Tuzenbach also has feelings for Irina more so than Irina have feelings for Tuzenbach. He says "I'll keep showing up night after night to walk you", showing his determination to grow a connection with Irina. Although, it is evident that the military have formed a great relationships with the daughters of their boss. They are able to go the house and are invited for special occasions showing  thier connection, when their father was alive "there were thirty to fourty officers", expressing that although not everyone turns up the few that are left have a great bond now.  As Natasha, she has two relationships going on her public one with Andrey who she is not happy with and her on going fair with his boss protopopov. Natasha doesn't have a good relationship with Andrey as he feels "my wife doesn't understand me" expressing they have a lack of communication. I intend to show this by not paying attention when Andrey is talking, looking in mirrors, moving stuff around and cutting him when I feel he says something irrelevant, showing the lack of interest I have for him.

In yesterday's lesson we focused on the circle of attention, we done this by bringing eight people forward, I was one of them. We had to act as if we are on the tube without speaking, the rest of the class then observed us, Rob came round to us individually and ask the class what they noticed about each of us. I was on the phone moving my head around a lot to show I was in deep conversation the class thought I was in an argument from my facial expressions and suggested people I may have been talking to. Abe was another, he was standing diagonally in front of me, the class suggested that he was in a rush as he continued to look at his watch and tapping his foot which showed his impatience.
We then done another exercise where eight different people went up and were pretending to be in a math exam. One person that stood out to me was Kamal he looked very calm and was flicking through his paper, which suggested to me he was struggling with the paper and waiting to find a page he could answer. Another was Eleanor, she was just sitting there, which suggested to the class she hadn't revised and didn't care.
The point of these exercises was allowing us to start thinking about the circles of our attention, whilst doing those short scenes we would have seen someone in particular because they stood out to us individually e.g. the way they play with their hair, their slight movement or body language. However, it allowed us to start creating stories for these people, why might they be checking their watch? Why are they looking around so frequently? It also, for the people acting, allows us to go into our own circle and no longer concentrate on the other actors around us, but just ourselves which makes us feel more relaxed and act naturalistic.


We then went on to see Malcolm and Jeremy in a coffee shop, they were both given objectives in this scene but we nor the other actor new what this was. They both sat on a small table, Jeremy continuously checked his phone looking around, whilst Malcolm kept on looking at Jeremy we all read Malcolm's inner monologue as to say 'when are you going to leave?' Some of us suggested that Malcolm was irritated that Jeremy was sitting there and that he wanted time alone and that Jeremy was waiting for someone. When we heard their objectives which was Malcolm was waiting for his girlfriend to come and needed Jeremy's seat and Jeremy was waiting for a friend. The point of this exercise was similar to the first, we are creating stories in our minds for the readers and beginning to think about story telling from just someone's body language and facial expressions.

In today's lesson we started off with a trust exercise where one person had their eyes closed and was being directed by the other person. This exercise allowed our class to work as an ensemble by making sure none of our partners bumped into anyone and that we also have trust in the other actors. We then worked on our inner-monologue, one person was acting with no dialogue whilst the other person said their thoughts. We started off with Abdul sitting at the bus stop whilst Jeremy said his thoughts, he


In today's lesson, we started off by doing various physical theatre images e.g. desperation and lust. The last image we had to make was any theme of the play, we decided to do Relationships, this picture reflects the affairs and confusing love within the play. The reason for this exercise was to begin to get in tune with the themes of the play.
We then went onto a breathing exercise, we had to sit down with an upright posture, we then had to breathe in for as long as possible then exhale for as long as possible. When we felt our lungs had no breath left we had to control the ending, then exhaling with an "oooing" sound at the end. This exercise was for us to focus on our posture and breathing, as an actress I must have the correct posture whilst performing to allow me to have better control of my breathing and vocal projection.We then went on to tongue twisters e.g. "A royal warrior will rarely worry why we rule", these tongue twisters help me with articulation and pronouncing my words. Finally, we had to think about the subtext behind the words of our tongue twisters and begin to add meaning into it. Therefore I changed the tone/pitch or my facial expressions, for example "A royal" on the word royal I raised my voice and elongated the word to highlight it was important word to me. We also thought about the given circumstances within the script, how old I am, where I'm from and my relationship with Andrey, I now start developing my character through these given circumstances and how I portray myself with the other characters. I like being center of attention which I show through my dress sense of big bright colours, because of this I make sure to look at myself in the mirror at least three times whilst it is my scene to remind the audience I am vein.

Rob asked us the question "what does it mean for us as actors when we work on all the theories, then our director gives us specific directions?" 
 I believe it is a part of the learning process that us as actors should be able to change directions through the play and adapt to what our director has said. I feel once we have finished blocking everything, it is then important to expand on the ideas and to create something even better. It is important to work on the theories to help us block and then we can begin to expand on those theories.
We were also asked what our challenges were, as I am playing Natasha I didn't really have much challenges as I enjoy playing her and got into the role quickly. However, the only thing I am struggling with is in Act2 where Natasha begins to speak French. I do not understand what she says, therefore I stumble before those lines and break character, I need to work on those lines in my own time as it is easy learning lines in English but French is more challenging. Natasha says, "je vous pris pardonnez moi marie mais vous avez des manieres un peu grossieres" which means "please forgive me, Masha but you have rather rude manners". This will help me develop my method acting in the future.
I have also been developing my character as I've gone through the script I have been writing all my objectives in my scenes. By this I mean an objective is something I am trying to get out of a certain situation. My objective in act 2 is to make sure the carnival people do not enter the house and care for Bobik, furthermore my objective in act 4 is to begin taking over the house for my suiting. I have also written down all my actions for example, "still working, poor things" and the action was to patronize as Natasha does not really care for their well-being. I have also written down my changes for example, change of thought and change of tones. e.g. in act 4 I say "You scared me half to death. (To Irina) *change of subject*You know..." This gives the character a chance to have different tones and levels to the character.
We then had to think about what cake we would best describe ourselves at first I said a Victoria sponge cake but I then realized, that not what describes my character but rather me as I prefer Victoria sponge cake and a lot of people like sponge cakes. However, for my character Natasha I believe she would be a Coconut Cake as you either love it or hate it. The cake also has a sweet side however can be very bitter. I think that reflects Natasha as I don't like Coconut cake and the majority of the class I asked disliked the Cake as well, which is the same with Natasha.This tasks was useful to give me a greater subtext on my character Natasha, I am able to think about objects that reflect my character and how I work with that. Thinking deeper about how I can use this task in my production, the Coconut Cake will show my sweet side when I am talking about my son "Hello my Bobbie Wobbie". However, whilst arguing with Olga in Act three I will bring out the unkind and bitter side of the cake.
To get to know my character even more I went through the script and underlined what each of the characters say about me. This is effective as from the information I get I can then carry on developing my character so certain things I do within the script will reflect how I act. For example in the first act Masha is speaking badly about her appearance, Olga refers to her as "some girl", portraying that she does not have much importance in the family.

In today's lesson we started of with the exercise with our characters in the play we had to choose  an animal that we thought our character represented. I choose a poodle because they are cute and a bit more of a prestige dog which is what Natasha thinks she is, you don't always see poodles on the  streets and there is no one else like Natasha in the play, you either like poodles or you don't which I think represents Natasha. We then had to talk around like  that animal and  portray the rhythm and pace of our animal. I added a little bit of a spring to my step ad moved my hips more so  to give me a bit of a wiggle. This exercise was useful as it sets the pace for our character, it allows us to think more about our character and how we should be acting and moving on set. As the poodle represents Natasha I may start thinking about walking in a more sophisticated manor.

We then sat down and had to think about what our character would be doing six months after the play. I decided that Natasha completely took over the household making it suited for her, She also left Andrey and was now living with propoptov and was happy with her life. Another persons life I enjoyed hearing about was Masha's(Ilonka), she had left her husband Kulygin and she found love and got pregnant unfortunately she had a miscarriage and she moved to Italy with oranges growing in the back. This exercise was effective, letting us think about the through line in the play, it also let me think more about my relationship with each of the characters and how I will show my relationship with Andrey. Therefore in rehearsals I will practice using my facial expressions more often when in conversation with Andrey, I may roll my eyes, frown etc.

We then went on to working in pairs and we had to decide to be either Natasha and Andrey or Masha and Kulygin and one of pairs would be caught cheating. Me and Shamsul decided to do Natasha and Andrey as we both play them in the production. We started off with me looking in the mirror and Andrey puling me over to one side, he then began accusing me and I deny it at first and then I begin to confess. I decided to be as over dramatic as possible, therefore I began crying and blaming him for my mistakes. I also broke the fourth wall as when Andrey forgave me I smiled to the audience and quickly changed back emotional state, as we were walking off I also looked back at the audience and smiled. This was effective as it added a bit of comedy to the scene and showed how devious Natasha really was, this was also more practice on our through lines.

In today's lesson we went over Act 1 and 2, whilst watching Act1 there were many things I observed. The tempo and the rhythm of the act was very slow, actors would finish their lines and then the next actor would speak a beat or a little bit after, which didn't look natural and a normal conversation. There wasn't much energy in the scenes either, everyone was concentrating more on reading the lines than acting. There was much gossip going on in the act but there needed to be more interaction within the characters. For example, at the dinner table everyone is supposed to be having quiet conversations, however only a few people were talking and the rest were silent. Everyone also needed to think about their objectives and why they were on the scene.

In today's lesson I focused on developing my character, In act 3 I was over playing my character shouting at Olga however I tried a different approach. Instead of shouting I was being patronizing, speaking to her in a soft voice and speaking very closely to her, the subtext behind that was I have to be nice for the meanwhile as they are my in-laws however I'm going to take over the household. Also working on the variation of my voice therefore when I say " How dare she provoke me!" and I am shouting, then composing myself in a soft voice "Really Olga" not only adding a comic to my lines but giving layers to my emotions and showing how over dramatic Natasha was. Learning that under playing some dialogue is more effective to the audience than over.

One scene I enjoy watching is Ilonka's and Brad's, I enjoy watching the connection between the two, when Ilonka says "There's more light over here" they both gaze into each others eyes showing the romantic connection they had formed. I liked the way Brad subtly touched Ilonka but it wasn't too forward, showing the genuine interest he has. The gentle play fighting reminded me of the young love she had once experienced. Ilonka's body movement and gestures also showed her flirtatious side and new love, as she gazed into his eyes often sat closely to him and had a slight grin on her face. I believe this scene was rehearsed in detail capturing the new connection between Masha and Vershinin.





Evaluation 
I feel our performance was a big improvement, one thing especially on the first act was being able to remember cues for characters to speak. However, in the performance they were able to speed up cues and not have so many pauses. There was also more energy driven through the acts, whereas before everyone wasn't as intrigued in the play. I enjoyed my characters performances as I feel my character was dramatic and I added more attitude, this was especially noticeable in act three where I used more disgusted facial expressions I made sure to shout at Anfisa louder then I had done in the practice. I also made sure to use my comical lines and really going for it, e.g. "Masha please" and elongating the please. I also changed my body language and movement whereby I was holding my fur coat keeping my posture upright, my chin held high to show that I was arrogant and felt I was better than everyone else. My tutor Rob also gave me positive feedback, explaining I had a good energy I continuously listened and responded to characters in role and focusing playing with the role. I was vocally and physically engaged. Moreover, my tutor gave me targets to work on whereby sustaining all of my positive feedback, reading around with styles and techniques and taking the time to link up with Youth Theatre Groups. Things for the group to work on is still some of the cues were slow, speeding up cues for the future is important to make sure the conversation looks realistic. Also focusing on blocking as at times people were squashed together so making sure to block so that it doesn't look awkward. Overall, the performance made a great improvement since the beginning and I feel with more time and blocking it could've been even better.

Comparing the two pieces

• We broke the fourth wall in the York Realist however, in the Three Sisters breaking the fourth wall would not made it natural.
• During the Three Sisters we had to put ourselves in the lives of our characters, but on the other hand the York Realist we were playing ourselves.
• A lot more energy was shown in The York Realist rehearsals although less was shown during the Three Sisters as not many people were interested in the play.
• I had to learn to feel comfortable in sharing my speech during The York Realist however I felt more confident playing Natasha as it wasn't personal.

The York Realist

 "I live here, I live here. You can't see that, though. You can't see it. This is where I live. Here."

This quote was taken from the play written by Peter Gill ' The York Realist'
We began as a class looking at this quote and what we thought it meant to us. I felt the quote stood out to me as desperation as if the person is trying to explain their reasons or argument to someone in authority maybe. I then began to think that maybe the person was not just speaking to one person but a group of people that may have isolated him and this is the last straw.

Others for example Abe, felt it was a little child in a play ground and the kids weren't being extremely nice. Jeremy felt, it was an immigrant that wasn't being accepted into society therefore broke out. It could have also been a crazy person who felt they lived inside their head rather with society.

The punctuation and language also stood out to me, this is because the constant repletion makes me believe they are trying to persuade someone it also sounds like desperation. The full stops show me that every short sentence he says is important and he continues to emphasise his point as he go's through. The repetition of "I live here", conveys that maybe this character has been provoked and he has been asked the question numerous times but now this is his final reaction. They also never use exclamation marks, regardless of how many times he is repeating himself, which portrays that maybe he is so used to this question/accusations


Peter Gill
Peter Gill was born on the 7th of September 1939 and was born in Cardiff to George John Gill and Margaret Mary. Gill was a welsh theatre director, playwright and actor. Peter Gill has directed over a hundred productions in the UK, Europe and North America.He was educated at St. Illtyd's College in Cardiff. He was then an understudy in London for Willis Hall and his play about the British Army. Gill then started work as a actor both on stage and film, starring in Henry Revel in Dishonoured Bones (episode 1.6) as the detective on the 4th of May 1964. Peter Gill was the assistant director of the Royal Court Theatre in 1964 then became associate director In 1970. Later on Gill was fortunate enough to then become the founder director of Riverside Studios in 1976, then founding director of the Royal national theatre studio (1984-1990). Most of his earlier plays involved working class characters usually native wales. Dealing with tensions of class, sexuality or artistic ambition.He wrote the York realist in 2001 and his most recent play was the 'Versilles' in 2014. When Peter Gill wrote the York realist he was inspired by personal recall memories and people. The character Barbra, was inspired by the Majonie Yates who Gill had worked with, making a unforgettable performance on stage. During the time Gill watched on Barbra came together by his imagination. Peter Gill was a trainee director who worked on York Mystery plays, some could argue John was a version of himself.
Gill, loved actors that were rare by directors and he was very specific about his casts, although he shows love and support to his cast, Gill is forward and harsh as well. This has led to his gain in followers and respect.

Themes 

Family 
It is evident there is a strong family bond between them, George is taken care of by his mother constantly, "Do you need a clean shirt", Barbara even says "You spoil him", emphasisng the great care his mother has for George. We also see the typical brother and sister teasing in the play, "Doreen made you a pie" sharing those brother and sister moments in the play. Jack Barbra's son was also quiet close with mother, when he wasn't in school he was at his grandmothers,sowing another strong relationship. They all go as a family to watch George perform, which shows they are also a proud and supportive family.

Sexuality 
Although homosexuality was illegal during the 1960s, George and John still continued their secret relationship for several months. It is evident they both want to be together however, the distance between them is too far for it to work. George had once slept with Arthur but to Arthur it never happened which could be signs of denial, Doreen who is very keen on George soon realizes as Barbra says "I don't think he's for marrying you see", however Doreen was still trying to take of George and in the future this could have led to an empty shell marriage for the pair, which was very common for men to do so to hide their sexuality. 

Identity
There is a great contrast in identity between George and John, all George knows is this little town just outside of York, his farm and his cottage with his family. When John asks George if he'd move down to London he is in a constant battle, he feels his identity will shift and that he will stand out. He feels he will not make it in the acting carer, "listen to me speak" he says expressing he feels he does not belong in London as that is not his identity. John, as much as he visits George in York does not want to move away from his home in London, what he is custom to and comfortable with in London. Both George and John must hide their identity of being homosexual, even from their closest friends and family. They are not given that opportunity to express themselves properly and how they feel.

Decisions 
There are a few decisions that are needed to be made throughout the play, these decisions varied but always had a certain effect on someone. George has to make the decision whether or not he will go back to acting class at the beginning of the play. Later on more so John contemplates whether he should sleep with John asking many questions such as "what about the noise?", showing he was more indecisive than George about the situation. Furthermore, after Mother dies Barbra says "You can go now if you want", highlighting she knows about George and John and if he chooses to be with him there is "Nothing keeping you here". In the final scene whilst John is desperately wanting George to move down to London, George decides to remain in York. 

We then got into pairs and created an improvisation from that quote, I worked with Kenya. We decided that Kenya was the mother and I was the daughter and Tony that was Kenya's boyfriend was abusing me. We connected the quote when Kenya told me I should've left with Tony and how I'm such a hassle, then I began my quote to show that I became very emotional, the pace of my breathing sped up, the tone of my voice became shaky and I took my time to say the quote this was effective as it showed the desperate side to the quote and how upset I surely was. However, next time if we done it Kenya and I could portray more of the Mother and Daughter side as it wasn't very clear we were mother and daughter, so she could have sent me to my room or I could have pleaded "mum you don't understand!"
Another group I liked was Brad's and Molly, they took a completely different approach whereby Molly was staying in Brad's Cabin without Brad knowing. This improvisation was good as when Molly heard Brad we knew immediately she was not meant to be there, she showed this by widening her eyes when she heard the door, began to speed up the pace of her body movements and was looking around frantically. Brad was also very good with his reaction as it was over exaggerated, as would anyone be if another person was in their house. He immediately began shooting and projecting his voice asking her lots of questions "How did you get here", "How long have you been here for" as he was calling the police that's when Molly said the quote it worked really well and fat in with the scene. However, They missed out a key line with telling us they were in a hunting cabin we only found out at the end when we asked because it would be a lot harder for someone to stay in their house, so remembering key lines.


In the next lesson I worked in a group of three with Kamal and Jaychelle, we used the story of Kenya's Christmas to create either a western style or silent movie play. We decided to do the western movie style, and I added the western American accent. Me and Jaychelle done a shoot off and Kamal done the typical western action sounds. This little exercise was important as it allowed us to get used to story telling in a particular style.

We then began to work on the play itself. We began to make a set for the play, I played Barbara that day who is the sister to George, Abe was the director. At first, when Jeremy was playing George, I felt his tone towards his mother was coming across rude, this is because in the play the relationship between George and his mother is portrayed as warm and loving but there was a contrast between the tone and emotions. He was frowning, raising his voice and over moving his hands, this did not reflect the mother and son relationship. Therefore, after informing Jeremy about this he then changed his tone to become more softer towards his mother and did not move his hands as much as that looked too modern for this particular play. By me pointing out this issue this showed me that I understood the text and how things should be said. I also made sure to tease George whilst we was talking about pies "Hear that George, Doreen's made you a pie", I went over to him and nudged him with my shoulder, to show the pointless arguments siblings have in families.

We then got into groups and created an improvisation scene of what we've done. This exercise was useful as it allowed us to see if we have a good understanding of the first scene and the key events within it. I multi-rolled, I played John and the mother, Jaychelle played George, we wanted too add as much romantic tension as possible, this was shown when I said to George how "I'm glad you kept this " and she mumbles "I kept it for you..". We then walked close to each other and stared into each others eyes, then with our change of beat we came back to reality, I then hurried off to the car. I then showed that I changed character, by changing my voice to become more high pitched, and a slightly different accent. I also walked much faster as the mother, showing that I'm always busy in the house and fussing over George, "Do you need a clean shirt? Clean trousers?".
Another group I enjoyed watching was Abe's, they portrayed the scene as more as a comedy, Shamsal was the mother which was portrayed in his body language, his posture was up right, he held his hands up just over his chest to portray a sort of stereotypical mothers body language. He also changed the pitch of his voice so that it was higher, and was moving around the set a lot to portray that George's mother is mostly doing house work. Another actor I enjoyed watching was Abe he played Doreen, I thought he was funny as he also changed the pitch of his voice so that it was higher however, he was over dramatic with his character which worked. It was clear he she was interested in George as when Doreen went to speak to George, the proxemics between them was always close and Abe showed through his facial expressions smiling constantly, whilst they said how good her pie was.

I then had to go through the script and write in the characters, actions, objectives and changes (of thought). By this I mean an Objective is a reason for your actions, it gives the character a purpose in the play and also doesn't leave the character on one beat but different levels and we learn more about the character through their actions. Therefore when George says "You did. You timed it well. I must stink", his change of thought is from "You timed it well." George then has a change of thought to  "I must stink" . We continued to do this as a group then in our own time to any character we decided, I chose sister Barbara. I started with "You seen my lad, mother?" and the action is to ask, then later on she says "Did she? Hear that, George? Doreen's made you a pie" and her action is to tease which represents the silly brotherly and sister arguments. This exercise is useful to me as an actress as, it allows me to work out my own characters objectives and meanings. It gives me time to think about the subtext behind the lines and how my character will later on respond or act within the play.

In today's lesson we read through scene 3 and then began to improvise the scene. I was playing Arthur, for this scene we had to ensure that the pace of the play remained at a good speed to make sure the energy didn't die. As we first walked into the house we all went and sat down at the table, however we stopped and thought about if that looked realistic or not. Because in a modern household not everyone would go to the table, some would scatter off to do other things. Therefore, we went again and this time I went to take my coat off and sit Mother down. Everyone began to sit down gradually, after doing their own things which made the scene more realistic. I went to get the tea's and at first I just mimed placing down a tea tray however, after re-reading the script Mother doesn't say thank you for the tea until later on it scene, so I improved this by coming in with the tray and pouring it out to everyone individually so that I've slowed down the pace. When George and John first come in everyone greets them, although it seemed as if we were all waiting for each person to finish their lines so it did not look natural and the pace slowed down. We then improved this by rather than waiting for the person to finish we just over lapped each other so it sounded like a more welcoming arrival. I also showed my relationship with George by shaking his hand, patting him on the shoulder and wishing him a well done to show that I was proud of him. I also had a few father and son moments for example, when I was about to get the tea I patted Jack on the shoulder and pointed to the Kitchen to assist for help and Abe rolled his eyes. I also told him to move out the seat once I came back .This reflects our realistic bond of a father and mother relationships. I enjoyed going through scene 3 as it allowed me to see the family bond, the good pace allows the scene to have  energy and wait for what is going to happen next.This lesson was important as it allowed me to start focusing on the text more, there is a lot of stage directions and people talking therefore for the scene to make sense and all the characters to be in tune with one another it is important to take our time going through the script and improving it scene by scene.

In today's lesson we read through scene 4, we had to look at George's monologue and in pairs one of us was the side that was excited to go to London and one side that didn't, I worked with Ilonka for this monologue. We decided that I was going to be the side that didn't want to go and Ilonka was the opposite. At first we were just speaking but we both used different tones and facial expressions to deliver our lines. Whilst she had a smile on her face and was reminiscing, I was frowning, my tone of voice was more subtle. For example Ilonka would say "All the theatres an concerts" and I responded with "But what would I do?" We then decided that was too plain so we then thought about adding a person in the middle so that we were their conscious. We also decided too say some lines together e.g.  "Nearly a fight was over that"  we decided to do this line as it could either been seen as good or bad, George could've been excited as we as scared. We also stepped forward and back as we were speaking to show one idea may overthrow the next. This exercise was useful as it allowed us to see the conflict within George, I believe he wants to go to London as the good  over weighs the bad however, he still doubts the situation as he is so custom to one life he is not ready or as he says "ambitious" enough to change. I feel George is battling between wanting to go or wanting to stay.




Donmar Theatre Warehouse
We have now started work with the Donmar Theatre and we will be working with them for several weeks to devise a piece from the York Realist. We started off with Toby thinking about the themes and ideas of the play. We began with a warm up walking around the room and being sure to fill up all the room, this was to help with concentration and focus. We then played a game called "Wah" where we have 3 actions we have to perform and at a fast pace, the reason for this game is allowing us to become focused and aware of the surroundings and also with our communication in a group.
Toby then went on to asking us a series of questions and we stood on the line either we agreed or disagreed e.g. It is okay put our ambition before our family. I said yes because I feel in the long run you  have to provide for yourself, its only you that can make you become successful. Another question was, do you have to leave your area to become successful, I put myself more to the middle this is because I feel there are better oppourtunites in other places e.g. America however it can also depend on your work ethic and how hard you want to work to be successful. This exercise links to the theme of choice in the play, when George has to decide weather to go to London or not.

We then went on to another exercise, standing in the room where in London we come from, then what part of the world our parents are from which was Jamaica , then grandparents(still in Jamaica). We then showed where we would like to live I couldn't decide between Jamaica and America. Finally where we feel most safe, I said with my second family as I feel most comfortable with them I also feel safe because they have a lot of brothers and sisters and we are all close. These questions were also focusing on our identity and who we are as people.
The last question Toby asked is if we thought we were Some-where's or Any-where's. A somewhere is they don't like change like things how they are have a set routine etc. On the other hand Any-where's are able to move around they are fine with changes etc. I couldn't quiet decide but I went to the some-where's side because with some things I don't like that I like my routine however I'm okay with some changes and if I had to move around I would. This made me think about George in the play and how he would be a somewhere as hes just not ready for changes and doesn't feel he could live his life any other way.

We then went on to working with different people in the second half. We were to pick the picture we found most interesting, ours were two old woman linking arms walking through a street with scared/ worried faces. We then had to pick a scenario for them, ours was A gives B a bomb, then the scene which was on the empire state building. Before we started acting I worked on character B filling in background information on her. For example, has she ever been in love? I said no, do they have any phobias and I said the dark. Just to bring our character to life more and when we start creating our story we can link it to the information on our characters. We came up with Mabel and Margret throwing a bomb at the crowd, when Martin Luther King was about to do his speech, because we set it in the time in America when the civil rights was going on and Mabel and Margret are racist. We took a pause from the scene and began to read the first scene of The York Realist where George and John are talking, we then had Kenya and Jaychelle act it out and we found that there was more tension whilst performing then just reading it.
For our Mabel and Marget scene we could only use four lines we decided "Oh I'm not to sure about this Margret, look how happy they are to see Martin ", "You got the bomb?", "All these coloured people need to go Mabel" and finally "Marget did you even pull the pin?". This was effective as it allowed us to work more on the subtext, our facial expressions and body language. When we cut out lines we created more movement, this was shown when we were fighting over the pin rocking back and forth we then took deep breaths at the same time and continued which added more comedy.
I enjoyed this first lesson as we were able to look at themes and identity in a different way rather than just talking about it.


First Workshop
In today's lesson Toby from the Donmar Warehouse came down to do a sessions with us. The first exercise we done was walking around in the space, making sure we have filled the space at all times. This was useful as it made me think about my spacial awareness constantly, by working as an ensemble our first aim was to made sure there was no dead space. We then added in a clap and a jump we had to make sure we done this in unison, when Toby called out "side" we had to move as quickly as possible to the side and stand ready to come back in. This was effective because it represented us as actors in the wings doing a performance, whether we are on stage or not we had to ensure the energy did not drop and not loosing that focus so that when it is time to come back on stage we are ready.  He then called out "center", where we had to bunch up together quickly in the middle. Toby then added in further commands, one called "Survivor" where the assemble would kneel on the floor whilst one person stayed standing however we were in silence and the other was sacrifice where we would do the same however one person was kneeling and the rest of us were up. The final command was TV where we would come to the front of the stage in different levels and stare into the audience. These commands were allowing us to be in tune with the rest of the assemble, although we are not speaking we are able to communicate through body movement and working as a group. I found this exercise very useful, this is because it made me think about my focus at all times I had to be engaged throughout otherwise if my energy level dropped I would no longer be working as an ensemble and would therefore stick out. I found it hard at first because I was getting used to all the commands whilst still having to remember the previous ones and keeping that energy level so high but by the end I had learned to maintain the energy I needed. It was interesting to see that when Toby added in more commands e.g. Survivor we lost focus of our prior aim which was filling the space, which taught me that no matter how many things that may be going on in a performance by keeping the high concentration levels which I maintained once I got used to the exercise, I will remember everything I need whether in an ensemble or not.

We then went on to play a game whereby we stood in a circle, we would all look down at the same time and when we looked up we had to make eye contact with someone. I two people are looking at each other they are out.  The reason for this game is to build tension in characters, when our heads are down we are waiting and anticipating, hoping the person that you're about to look at doesn't look at you back. When I locked eyes with Malcom the feeling of slight disappointment came as I thought my plan would work. Same way an audience may want two characters to connect  in a certain way.

Toby then gave us a set of lines to remember "I got you a present. Really? Thank you." We then had to mime giving someone a present say those lines and see their reaction, I received the present and mimed that I got a dog. This was to get us to start thinking about beginning, event and consequence in a story, the beginning was the person walking up to them, the event was handing over the present and the consequence was how that person reacted. We then tried it again, this time as I was walking over to hand the present Brad was security and said I couldn't pass, that was an obstacle which now could change the story completely and how I am going to overcome it, showing obstacles are a part of a story and then thinking about my objectives to overcome.

We then had to create a 30 second piece with a beginning, event and consequence using a bit of assemble work, with the title "Show me your friends and I'll show you my future". I worked with Brad, Ilonka and Malcom, we decided that Malcom bumped into an old friend Brad and began to do drugs, his mum then kicked him out and when he was at his lowest point on the street we walked around him in circles mimed shouting at him and then bumped into another friend which was me and I helped him recover and got him on the right track. I thought the ensembles part where we walked around him was effective as we had different levels where Malcom was on the floor and everyone was above showing he felt hopeless/worthless. However, whilst we was doing that we could have been more forward stage, closer to the audience so that they felt more involved. We could have also had the key events e.g handing the drug, to show the significance of his action.


Second Workshop
We began by playing a game whereby Toby was in the middle and he threw the ball around the circle and we had to keep one tempo. It then expanded when someone in the circle would shout  "GO" and they would move into the center and begin throwing the ball at people. When another person felt comfortable enough to move into the circle they would do, gradually more and more people felt comfortable enough to move into the center. We first done this by asking the people that had not moved in yet and what they were waiting for, some people said that the person in the middles back was not turned to them so they could not go in. We also slowed down the rhythm therefore people felt more comfortable with the ball being thrown and not panicking, we eventually got everyone in the circle. This exercise was useful as it allowed me to start thinking about working  as an ensemble being in time with one another. It is also effective because my group needs to feel more comfortable with one another and know that we all wok as one, on the other hand we are also focusing at all times which is what we need as an ensemble.

We then got into pairs and had to share our safe place, my partner was Gabriel and his safe pace was Norway. I asked him a bit more about this place where about he goes, does he like the people, can he speak the language, to understand why he loves the country so much. We then had to stand in a space on the stage, Toby would come over and tap our shoulder when to start speaking our paragraph and tap us again to stop. To begin with I wasn't projecting my lines clearly but more in my own space because I didn't feel comfortable. I felt forced to project my lines so that he wouldn't point out that I wasn't projecting my lines, however after a while  I became more comfortable and accepted my piece.
We then had to walk around filling the space and then once we stopped we had to read our lines. This was effective as, it allowed us to be brave telling our stories and working on projecting our voices.

Lastly, we were put into groups of six, the first task we had was walking onto the stage at different parts e.g. upright right, downstage center stage. We then stood there without talking and walk off at the same time. To begin with the first time we walked on was messy, we were not focused on getting ready to walk on, rather still working on our positions. Our exit was not neat either because Gabriel initiated the exit but instead needs to be at the right time for all of us. Whilst watching the other group come on stage, I felt Abe stuck out the most as he wasn't walking on naturally but over dramatic, this pulled my attention to Abe rather the assemble as an whole which is not meant to be done. As they held their positions it then got to a point whereby some of their faces showed they had lost focus and were now waiting to go off e.g. looking side to side with their eyes. We then done it again to make improvements for the first time, it was a much better entrance as everyone new where they were going and we all waited for each other at the right moment to walk off. 
Furthermore, we done the same task again however, this time adding in the line of "This is where I live". Whilst watching the other group I found that Jaychelle seemed very confident and I believed that was where she lived by the projection of her voice and stern tone. On the other hand I didn't believe Kamal, he was quite and his facial looked disengaged to the task.
Finally we finished off with using a line from our safe place to use on stage, I chose "And the screaming, laughter and crying". I thought our group was effective as we all stayed focus whilst walking onto the stage and we all projected our lines clearly and were able to walk off as an ensemble.
This task has taught me how to better my myself engaging with my assemble, I have also learnt to be more in tune and aware of what my ensemble is also doing around me which I can use in further productions that involves me working in assemble groups.

Master Class
Today we went down to Covent Garden to do more work with the Donmar Warehouse. To begin with, we listened to different types of music and were asked how it made me feel, some made me feel happy, lonely and scared. Different types of instrumentals were played and we had to move around the way it made us feel e.g. A Jolly tune I skipped around the room, and mischievous sound made me moved around the room slower and a low level. In groups we then wrote down the six most interesting words we came up with Kenya, Ally and I decided Anxious, Mischievous, Freedom, joyful, distraught and isolated. We then had to create an action that best suits that word then fit it to the beat, for anxious we swung our heads side to side, for Joyful we done the can-can. From this I have learnt that music can intimidate us to feel a certain way depending on the tune, allowing us to make different types of theatre with a variety of songs.

Our second session was with Toby we were playing grandma's footsteps, we had to observe what character we found most interesting, the character we were following and when it boring. In the first game I found Abe most interesting and fun to watch as he kept on moving and getting sent to the back, although every time he tired a different way to get to the front. It didn't get boring for me however, when the rest of the group were just moving at one pace next to each other, all my focus was on Abe. So it would have been a bit more interesting if more people were sent back or moving faster.
We then but in what would be known as obstacles in a story, we added in a block that you had to stand on, scarf you had to pick up and drop and a frame you had to call through. I was following Ally's story as she was sly and steady and I wanted to see her win, I enjoyed watching the rivalry between Abe and Jeremy racing to the scarf, trying to get in front. However, it got boring for me when Ilonka kept turning her head back to quickly before they had a change to move so we couldn't see any progression. For the last round we took out grandma and we had to work as an ensemble to stop at the same time and go to the back when necessary. I found this last one boring to watch as a whole as I didn't believe it. When they stopped but some people were still moving they didn't take themselves out, when one person cheats it's funny however when everyone tries to cheat it looses its realism. From this game I have learnt to pick out what works and doesn't work within an ensemble, I'm beginning to see features that can work for a group and what bits we can strip back, for example what worked was having a cheat in the group what didn't was when everyone else tried to join. Also thinking about what makes a character stick out to us and whether we need that or not. As when Abe was trying all these techniques to win I forgot about the other characters but I wouldn't want to forget them if I've paid to watch a show.

Lastly we learnt about the context from around the era of the 1960's, I wrote the key parts I took from this session. Until 1967, homosexuality was gay you could be put in prison for 2years and on top have hard labour just for being gay. Lord Wolfenden had to decide whether to legalize homosexuality or not however his son was also gay, to sum up what he said "Identity is always changing depending on where we are or what time" . Gay people, were affiliated with pedophiles and they were called awful things such as being disgusting. A doctor from the 1960s was asked are his patients not scared to see him or worried because he is gay, which I think is mortifying as we shouldn't base someones capability by their sexual preference. However, he says he isolates himself from all social life linking to George when he withdraws himself from his mothers funeral. There were also the 'pretty police', whereby the police would pretend to be gay and have men arrested who were caught by them. Around the 1960s the film "Victim" was released, where popular actor of the time was blackmailed for being gay.  Men who were blackmailed for being gay, would either pay or kill themselves which affected homosexuality being legalized. In the play George says "are you blackmailing me?" adding in contextual evidence in the play. Homosexual people also spoke polari a language mixed with a few countries such as roman gypsy, Italian, Yiddish and changing the gender of names etc. For example George would be Georgina, Ecaf is face and thumping cheat is heart. This language was made so that they would not get caught by the police or public and they thought they were foreign. This contextual lesson made me have a better understanding of homosexuality in the 1960s, learning about the extremes they had to go to not to get caught and what the public thought of them, also being able to link it into the play was much better.

Review  
We were given the privilege of watching the play ‘The York Realist’ written by Peter Gill, at the Donmar warehouse. George a young farmer from York meets an assistant Director from London John. They shortly fall into a secret relationship hidden from their families.

 I was intrigued by many of the technical aspects of the play, I liked the lights especially and how they portrayed night/day. In scene 3 whilst George is sitting in the chair the lights gradually build up to emphasise George has been sitting there for hours. When the light shun through the window it reminded me of my house when it the sun beams through the window and how realistic it looked on stage. The sound was effective as some were used to set the scene e.g. the birds first thing in the morning. The kettle whistling was a creative way of a tension breaker, when George and John had just finished their conversation and things became awkward and silent; the kettle was an interesting way to cut it. I felt the costumes were detailed and realistic, I felt it matched their social classes. John would also have on a blazer, shirt and jumper whereas George would be in his overalls or baggy shirt, showing a great contrast on where they lived. Mother, Doreen and Barbra always had on long skirts emphasising they were religious. The set itself was brilliant; I loved the excess clutter around the house to make it look realistic. The stairs firstly, made the set look bigger than it was and I then began to wonder what the bedrooms upstairs looked like which I never done when just reading the script.

From only reading the play and now seeing it I had many different interpretations of what the family would be like.  Although, I thought the set was excellent and near enough the same to what our group made however, we did not have our kitchen on stage. Although it was good they did as there were hidden messages from the kitchen only the audience could see. Whilst our company read through the play we interpreted George was less together than John and a bit unsure of himself. We also felt George was more immature/childlike. However the Donmar company did not think the same, when first seeing George he was muscular, a mummy’s boy and was not insecure. I felt George was dominant over George, making more moves between them, bringing up the more serious topics, however he was still indecisive on figuring out what he wanted which we knew. John was nothing I anticipated, I thought he was the dominate character, calm and sophisticated and older than George. Whilst watching him I observed he was not afraid of his sexuality however more reluctant to have sex which I thought George would be. John looks more respectful from his mannerism but more emotional than George. Their company decided to have George as an awkward person and sometimes comedic, he would take long pauses or stutter not knowing what he wants, making jokes in serious conversations reflecting his mind set wasn’t as certain as George’s. On the other hand my interpretation of Doreen is what I thought it would be, during the time of watching Doreen she was perky, clearly in love with George, caring and insignificant. I didn’t feel sorry for Doreen until I watched the play, seeing how much she adored George but he didn’t match and her facial expressions showed the heartache on her face made me sad for her that she may end up in an empty shell marriage.

I enjoyed watching the characters relationship especially between mother and George the love they shared. I felt as if I was in the family, when mother died it really showed her significance of what a lose she truly was and I felt all their emotions. The play was naturalistic and represented what a normal day in our own household may look like, their tea making skills were well rehearsed and detailed. To contrast, I wasn’t particularly keen on the screen showing the field, I felt the lights already represented what time of the day it is and we could be left to imagine the scenery. I would’ve liked to have seen if the rest of the characters knew George was gay instead of leaving us guessing.

Overall, I enjoyed the play massively I thought how it started off quite comical but towards the end the actors pulled us back in with the seriousness of the topic. I thought each character was their own and there was no insignificant role, everyone linked. I am grateful I was able to watch a play with knowledge of context behind it.


mystery plays  
A popular medieval play during the 13th century based on biblical stories or the lives of the saints. Presented in Latin by churchman on church premises e.g. Adam and Eve, Abel, Last Judgement.
One of three principle kinds of Vernacular drama in Europe during the middle ages including miracle plays/morality plays.Vernacular is the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people of a country or region. During the 13th century various guilds began producing the vernacular at public sites as they were removed from the churches. Groups of 25-50 who were organized the acts of the apostles by Arnoul, which contained 494 speaking parts and 61,908 lines rhymed, which took 40 days to perform. The specific plays envolved from liturgical offcices, Liturigal seasons include Advent, Christmas, Lent, Triduum, Easter, Ordinary Time.
Liturgical was developed during the 10/11th century to enhance calendar festivals. By the 13th century when mystery plays developed, the plays had become vernaculised and filled with ecclesiastical versions. Ecclesiastical means relating to the church or its clergy (the body of all people ordained for religious duties, especially in the Christian Church.) Therefore was divorced from the church and went to public festivals. The name mystery plays comes from was used in the sense of miracles. Miracle plays, consisted of the stories from Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas, they both had active cults during middle ages believing in belief of power, saintly relics, because of this the church did not agree. The form that mystery plays developed contributed to the demise at the end of the 16th century.

DH Lawrence  
DH Lawrence was born on the 11th of September in 1885, Eastwood Nottingham-shire in Central England. He was a poet, playwright and novelist. He was the fourth child of struggling coal miner and heavy drinker. His mother was originally a teacher however was forced to give it up and work in a lace factory due to financial reasons. The tension between his parents and working class background allowed him to create some of his early work. Sadly Lawrence's mother died in 1910 as he helped her die by providing an overdose of sleeping pills. 'The widdowing of Mrs Hor...' and 'The daughter-in-law' are two of his most famous works. 'The daughter-in-law' was described by Lawrence as ordinary, with no themes of tragedy or comedy although the play was published after he passed, it was written in 1912 but only published in 1967. He also wrote a play called 'Lady Chatterly's Lover', first published privately in 1928. It entails a love affair between a wealthy married woman and a man who works on her husbands estate, the book was banned in the UK and the US as it was seen as pornographic.
DH Lawrence died in Vence, France on March the 2nd 1930, at the age of just 44 from Tuberculosis. DH Lawrence was an underrated writer of his time and was seen as crude and pornographic for much of his later part of life. Now Lawrence is greatly considered, along with James Joyce and Vigina Wolf who are both writer, as one of the great modernist English-Language writer. Lawrence is best known for his wide range of subjects/genres, psychological complexity and exploration of female sexuality. He is classed as one of the most refined and revolutionary English writer of the 20th Century.

Royal Court Theatre 
The Royal court theatre which is also known as 'court theatre', 'New Chelsea Theatre' or the 'Belgrovia Theatre'. Formed in 1956 it was required by the remains of the English home of the English stage Company, which is placed in Sloane Square the borough of Kensingnton Chelsea. Peter Gill was previously an actor but gained recognition as a play writer when he directed his first production without decar, at the Royal Court Theatre in August 1965, 'A coller's Friday Night'. This then introduced D.H Lawrence's plays in the Theatre in the 1960s.
In 1964 Gill became the Assistant Director at the Royal Court Theatre and Associate Director in 1970, Gill is best known as the Director of the three hitherto underrated plays by D.H Lawrence, presented as a group in 1968. Furthermore, in 1969 the Theatre presented two of his own first plays, 'The Sleepers' Den' and 'Over Gardens Out'.
Peter Gill wrote the play 'The York Realist' in 2001, which was set in the early 1960s. Before it was performed in the Royal court theatre it premiered at the Lowry November 2001 which then moved to the Royal Court theatre in 2002.

Fourth Workshop
In today's session we started off with a different exercise, firstly we had to point to anything in the room an say what it was, then pointing at an object but saying a completely different word, then doing the same but saying made up words and finally pointing to an object e.g curtain then pointing at the floor we had to say the word curtain because it came before. This allowed us to gain focus and concentrate.
Moreover, we went onto an improvisation game whereby we started off with 'no', someone would be talking and the other person would but in by saying 'no'. Some groups found this difficult as they felt they couldn't have a conversation without being shut down, however Kenya and I felt it was easy as we turned it into more of an argument so the conversation still flowed. We then added 'yes and' allowing the conversation to go further than before. This taught me that in drama whilst giving ideas inside your company you can say 'yes and' adding in more ideas and 'no' when things aren't quite right but learning how to compromise with it.
Furthermore, we stood in a circle where two people would go in the middle and make any shape the second person then had to improvise with the first depending on their movement/action. When someone thought the scene was dying or became boring it was there job to shout 'freeze' and take the first persons place. When starting this exercise, it was moving very slow and as a group we were letting the scenes go on for too long, therefore we went back a step and used still images, when someone thought they could make a different image more interesting it was their duty to help step in. Once we got the hang of that we went back into acting improvisation and it was much more smoother. Working as an assemble learning when it's the right moment to help out our group in the scene and step in, some people in our group did not step in as often/not at all however as a group we had to figure out ways to make everyone feel comfortable enough to step in.
Sitting in a circle we ha to start with 'Once upon a time' and finish with 'They all lived happily ever after' but only saying one word at a time. The first time doing this was very bad, the story wasn't connecting and people were adding in too many different things to make the story work. The second time was a bit better however, when people in our group said random words because they weren't listening it made the story ten times more complicated for the rest of the group. The last time we closed our eyes and had to listen and focus on what everyone was saying . Following the story and only keeping a few subjects in made it easier for the group and on the last attempt we finally got to the end. Brad had a specific job whereby he was using the connecting words such as 'and, because, so' letting the story make sense, portraying that one person in our assemble can help mould together a story and help it stick. It was frustrating for me to listen to at times when we were trying to make the story connect and then someone said a random word making it hard or people were pausing because they weren't listening as we  are meant to be working as a team. I learnt that it is important for every individual to be focused at all times and listening when we are working as an assemble and not being selfish in the group as it affects us all.
Lastly, with our where we feel most safe speeches we created a short 30 second scene in a group. We choose my speech and we added in assemble work on the train where Kenya and I were rocking at the same time where I would read my lines an kamal was the train driver. We then used physical theatre of him tuning him into a door for the house, as I read my lines they would make the sounds behind me. We done this to explore our speeches and bits that sounded precious and how we could move forward with them.

Fifth Workshop
In today's session we done a complete different task from usual, whereby we had to clap to someone as a message/energy. The person who received the clap had to receive it the same way it was given. We tried various ways of clapping e.g. high, low, close together to make the game as fun and as interesting as we could. We then took people out of the circle to see how the others would create a story, Lola, Ally and Jaychelle created piggy in the middle with the claps which was interesting to see. Furthermore, we went on to adding in objectives to see how the story would develop, I tried blocking the claps therefore the passing of clap sped up whereas before the tempo was slower. Moreover, we began to add music to our claps, how we felt about the music was to be portrayed in the passing of the clap. A song came on whereby I felt happy so I passed my claps high and fast, on the other hand the song that made me feel isolated, I moved away from everyone else and clapped very slowly. We then put one person in the middle, imagining they were clapping a ball then began adding more people. This activity was effective as we begin to find unique ways of telling a story, finding ways that are interesting to the audience and what will keep them engaged. I also learnt there are many different ways to  play around with the pace and tempo of a story with simply just a clap and what sort of elements of surprise are we able to add in. 
We then went into groups to work on Ilonka's scene, which began with Gabriel representing Ilonka as Ilonka observed herself on this journey. We started off as physical theatre representing Ilonka's house as she feels trapped. We surrounded Gabriel trapping him, we then moved with him till he broke free. It was hard for our group to find a way to transition from home to the park, we wanted to show it in the most meaningful way possible showing how Ilonka moves with the light and air and the way she embraces it. However, we tried having Gabriel walking as we surround him as nature although I didn't feel Gabriel was giving a hundred percent of the passion the way Ilonka wanted it to be shown so it didn't work. Continuing we had Alley, Ilonka and I center stage right, we all spoke Ilonka's story whilst Gabriel would mime feeling the nature, he would then walk back home and say a few lines on how he is now feeling after being free. I think for next lesson we need to work on a way of having a better transition between the home and the park, also I feel Ilonka should play herself as Gabriel did not do it justice.

Sixth Workshop
In today's lesson we started of by improving Ilonka's scene we all gathered around still representing the physical theatre of the house, moving in and out with her till she broke free. Kenya and I represented the air, blowing wind noises, moving slowly but swaying our arms and spinning to capture the majestic feeling of nature. Abe, Brad and Malcom were the trees behind Ilonka all moving to the park. We then all swayed in unison representing she was at one with nature but as Ilonka looked up we all stopped dramatically as we are just in Ilonka's imagination. We lifted Ilonka up and made our journey back to the house, twirling with her and guiding her home portraying she feels free. As she re-enters the house, our positions from before have changed, we are no longer restricting Ilonka however still covering her slightly reflecting from how she first felt trapped in her house but after being with nature she is content.
We then watched Molly, Jeremy and Abdul's scenes that had been created and at the end had to find a way to add everyone in. Molly's scene had two sides of a video game which she becomes apart of, therefore we created a V shape line on both sides and began to battle.
In Jeremy's scene we incorporated the clapping game, this meant as Jeremy explained his morning routine he would try and catch the clap that was being thrown around, although our objective was to make sure Jeremy did not intervene. We had to make this interesting by having a different tempo throughout, there would be times where we would be going very quick and others where we are closer together.  Finally in Abdul's scene we all were on the sides as Abdul began his monologue we all slowly walked towards him till he was finally squashed in between us all unable to move.

In the following lesson we worked on creating my scene on where I felt most comfortable, I was having difficulty at first devising this as I felt I was over-thinking rather than just exploring. I started on a train, the ensemble were either side of me on a line as I started my speech they became alive on the train. This was effective as it allowed the audience to know this story was about me. Following that the group showed physical theatre of my uneven pathway by crouching into a ball at different angles close together as I hopped through them. Which was useful way to represent a foot path and bring it to life. I was then lifted by Abe and Jeremy as I walked in the air they brought me to the front of the stage, this was effective as it added levels to my scene, showing when I reach nearer to the house I am uplifted. When I talk about hearing the different noises, the scene became alive with people arguing in the background or playing showing the audience a visual representation of what I hear. I believe I wasn't very comfortable with sharing my story to begin with as it was out of my comfort zone being an actress however having to do something so personal, although I feel my ensemble encouraged me by being accepting and helping me create a scene. 

Eighth Session
In the final session with Toby we worked on all the scenes we had created, putting the last touches on how everyone could be put in each scene and the changes between each scene. I feel we had made great improvements from the beginning of the sessions till now, we are all working better as an ensemble accepting everyone's stories and helping the best we could to be apart of it. I feel the most important part we need to work on is learning to find the most interesting way to play with the energy claps and how some people could do one thing and working with the different tempo of the clap to make those scenes extra interesting.

Mystery Play- The Birth Of Jesus

Linking to the Mysteries plays we had to find a mystery play to perform within our group, Jeremy, Kenya and I decided to do the birth of Jesus. Because there was more characters than actors, we all had to multi-role, I played Mary, Shepard and Magi. To make sure the audience was aware of us multi-rolling I was sure to have different movement, voice and body language. For Mary I had a more cockney accent and I waddled around the set with my bump, for the Shepard I was an old man I had a walking stick and my voice was croaky. Furthermore, playing the Magi I was very excited to meet the King and my facial expressions were bold and happy. This was beneficial as by having drastic changes in each character it was easy for the audience to understand.

The performance was meant to be a promenade therefore, the audience would be on their feet and moving around with the action. However, the audience stayed seated in a proscenium arch format. Although, we still managed to keep the energy and engage e.g. When Jeremy (in keeper)would come through the audience to say the houses were full, we also had Kamal and Ilonka join as citizens and animals to help us out where we could not and added comedy to our piece. We sang "Away in a manger" and "Go tell it on the Mountain" to give it a more traditional feeling as that would be the norm in christmas time.

Overall I believe our performance was excellent, we all gave a hundred percent which made our play funny and exciting. We were very dramatic in all our scenes, especially when I gave birth to Jesus, making sure I was panting and screaming during labour. The use of our props we all useful t bring the scene alive and more realistic. For next time, I would like if the audience were more involved like a proper promenade so that we could have preformed in the format they did hundred of years ago.

Evaluation 
I believe our performance at the Donmar Theatre was excellent. We were able to find different ways of playing with the energy ball and make it interesting for the audience. I came onto the stage more curious to see what was going on whereas others would come on quickly to join in, there were moments when it was fast and other moments it was passed high and low. Giving that amount of energy from the start and allowing the audience to become more intrigued was important. Likewise in Jeremy's scene as we are trying to keep the clap away from him we had to find the fun in it, Abe and Malcom were clapping back and fourth adding humour within the claps and bringing the scene to life. I also enjoyed performing Malcom's scene, as our ensemble was all in sync with one another. When the music dropped we all made sure we gave the same amount of high energy making sure no one stuck out for giving any less. I also made sure to feel the passion in what I was saying throughout my speech and enjoying it. Overall, I feel our ensemble work was very good focusing on how we were being in tune with one another and moving with one another. However, if we could do this performance again I would give people more active speaking roles and having a few more shorter scenes so that they could share their story. Being able to play around with more of the themes of the play and working more closely with them for example, sexuality an building on a scene linked to that.

What have I learnt?
I have learnt to become more comfortable in sharing my story in front of our group and learning how to be confident when doing so. Different games we played e.g. the ball game which went towards benefiting us to learn how to feel comfortable as a group and being brave with it. I also learnt how to be patient with our group, when others are taking a while to become more confident and brave in our group being patient and trying to make them feel more comfortable is important. Finally, working on and improving what other people have wrote and their ideas, learning to take one thing but create something beautiful.

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